ALL-STARS ALL COME UP SHORT

There's a reason why Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in the division, if not the league. Arroyo pitched well but it wasn't enough. The bullpen further added to the hopelessness of the situation.

Halladay's brilliance was very well demonstrated in the 1st inning. Damon and Renteria led the game off for the Red Sox with some basehits. Halladay fell behind in the count to Ortiz. Every single pitch was low and away but was in such a spot that it was either close to being a strike, or was tempting to swing at. Ortiz fouled off a few pitches and the count was full. Ortiz has good numbers against Halladay with 9 extra basehits in 46 at-bats before the game. Halladay was not going to allow Ortiz to clear the bases with a double or hit a homerun. He knew if he walked Ortiz, no-one would score. The only thing Ortiz could get was an oppositte field single that could score only Damon. Halladay believed in himself and his pitching enough to allow a run. He knew he could let Ortiz knock 1 in, then get 3 outs without allowing many more. He was right. Ortiz got his single to left field scoring Damon. With runners on the corners Halladay fooled Manny Ramirez and got him to pop out. Nixon then grounded into an inning ending double play.

The Red Sox threatened later in the game but Halladay was able to bear down when he really needed to. He never got his pitch count up. The bullpen allowing 2 runs in the 8th almost helped us win the game. If it were still 3-1, Halladay probably would have been out to at least start the 9th.

The Man of the Game is, of course, Roy Halladay. He went 8 allowing only 1 earned run against the best offense in baseball. He only gave up 5 hits, a pair of walks, and struck out 6. He only had to throw 101 pitches and easily could have gone the full 9.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Arroyo: 0.1 - 8 IP, 3 ER
Embree: 0.2 - 0.2 IP, 2 ER
Timlin: 0.1 - 0.1 IP, Triple
Ramirez: 0.2 - 0 for 3, K, 2 LOB
Nixon: 0.2 - 0 for 3, 2 LOB, GIDP with 2 on in 1st, Fly Out not deep enough to score a run with bases loaded and 0 out in the 6th
Bellhorn: 0.2 - 0 for 4, 3 Ks, 1 pitch pop-out in 9th

ALL-STAR TEAMS ANNOUNCED
Four Red Sox will be starting for the AL, the Cardinals have 6 representatives on the NL team. Here are the starters:

American League:
C - Jason Varitek - Boston Red Sox
1B - Mark Teixeira - Texas Rangers
2B - Brian Roberts - Baltimore Orioles
3B - Alex Rodriguez - New York Yankees
SS - Miguel Tejada - Baltimore Orioles
OF - Manny Ramirez - Boston Red Sox
OF - Johnny Damon - Boston Red Sox
OF - Vladimir Guerrero - Los Angeles Angels
DH - David Ortiz - Boston Red Sox

National League:
C - Mike Piazza - New York Mets
1B - Derrek Lee - Chicago Cubs
2B - Jeff Kent - Los Angeles Dodgers
3B - Scott Rolen - St. Louis Cardinals (WTF, mate?)
SS - David Eckstein - St. Louis Cardinals
OF - Carlos Beltran - New York Mets
OF - Jim Edmonds - St. Louis Cardinals
OF - Bobby Abreu - Philadelphia Phillies
DH - To Be Determined, my guess is Albert Pujols

Seven of the 9 AL starters are from the AL East. Half of the NL starters are from the NL Central. The team with the best record in baseball, the Chicago White Sox, might not have a starter in the game. Nor might the NL East leading Nationals.

Here are the full rosters.